Catacombs
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- (For the Bronze Age culture, see Catacomb culture)
- (For the computer game series, see Catacomb 3D)
The original catacombs are a network of underground burial galleries near San Sebastiano fuori le mura, in Rome. The word now refers to any network of caves, grottos, or subterranean place that is used for the burial of the dead, or it can refer to a specific underground burial place.
Famous examples are:
- Catacombs of Rome in Italy
- Catacombs of Paris in France
- Kom al Sukkfa, Catacombs of Alexandria, Egypt
- Catacombs of Malta on the Mediterranean island of Malta
- Catacombs of Sacromonte in Granada, Spain.
- Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Italy.
- Catacombs of Lima in Peru.
There are also catacomb-like burial chambers in Anatolia, Turkey; in Susa, North Africa; in Naples, Italy; in Syracuse, Italy; Trier, Germany; Kiev, Ukraine. Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily were used as late as 1920s.
In Ukraine and Russia, catacomb (used in the local languages' plural katakomby) also refers to the network of abandoned caves and tunnels earlier used to mine stone, especially limestone. Such catacombs are situated in Crimea and the Black Sea coast of these two countries. The most famous are catacombs beneath Odessa and Ajimushkay, Crimea, Ukraine. They served as bases for Soviet World War II guerrillas (see also Great Patriotic War). Ajimushkay catacombs hosted about 10.000 fighters and refugees. Many of them died and were buried there, and memorials and museums were later established (it is now a territory of Kerch city).
See also
- Burial mounds
- Cemetery
- Crypts
- Necropolis
- Urban Exploration
References
- “Chambers Dictionary of Etymology”, Chambers (New York), 1988, ISBN 0-550-14230-4, see catacomb and tomb
External links
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